opening ceremonies
Event launch rituals
Opening ceremonies are the formal rituals and performances that mark the beginning of a major event, especially the Olympics or similar international competitions.
The phrase almost always appears in plural form, treating the various elements—speeches, parades, artistic performances, lighting of flames—as a collective spectacle: We watched the opening ceremonies from our hotel room.
Distinguished from an opening ceremony, which suggests a single ritual act like cutting a ribbon.
- OlympicsGlobal athletic contest
- host countryNation organizing an event
- torch relaySequential bearing of ceremonial fire
- dovesGentle cooing birds
- kickoffOpening play in football
countdown clock · national anthems · debut · cauldron · flag raising · parade · oath-taking · starts · launch · symbolic gestures · outset · introduction · banners · initiation · assembly · delegates · fanfare · march
- Olympic photostorch relay, closing ceremonies, medal ceremonies, gold medalist, flag bearers
- Scoutingbadges, scout, Boy Scouts, campfires, scouts
- ceremonieswedding, weddings, graduation, graduations, funeral
- World ExposGreat Exhibition, world's fair, expo, expos, world fair
- World Expoworld fairs, world expo, pavilions, exhibition halls, host cities
- presidential librariesReagan Library, presidential papers, documents, federal records, collections
opening ceremoniesclosing ceremonies
Formal event ending
closing ceremony · finale · conclusion · farewell ceremony · grand finale
opening, ceremony, opened, opens, opener, openings, reopen, unopened, ceremonial